Definition
TEXTURE can be described as the verbal surface of a literary work, as opposed to its internal framework, which is denoted by STRUCTURE. TEXTURE involves those elements and details of incident, tone, style and imagery that are considered not to be part of the structure of a work.
Thus, TEXTURE, as a literary term, is analogous to the tangible texture (as in the tactile quality) of surfaces or fabric. It describes the literary work’s sensuous qualities, as expressed by the writer’s manipulation of words.
Examples
The Stranger
"All I could feel were the cymbals of sunlight crashing on my forehead and indistinctly, the dazzling spear flying up from the knife in front of me. The scorching blade slashed at my eyelashes and stabbed at my stinging eyes. That's when everything began to reel. The sea carried up a thick, fiery breath. It seemed to me as if the sky split open from one end to the other to rain down fire" (59).
In The Stranger, right before the scene where Meursault pulls the trigger to shoot the Arab, there is a definite shift in the texture of the narration. While prior to this scene, the novel's general texture remained smooth and flat due to the calm and seemingly passive tone of Meursault's narration, the paragraphs leading up to the murder scene are marked by a sudden aggressiveness, which result in a rougher, more jagged texture. The sudden concentration of violent imagery created to personify the sun and the sea as "slashing" and "stabbing" Meursault's eyes, the comparison of the rays of sunlight to a "dazzling spear" and "scorching blade", and the abrasiveness of phrases such as "thick, fiery breath", all integrate to create a sharper and more jabbing texture, especially in comparison to the rather dull texture characterized by the earlier parts of the novel.
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
""Until then it hadn't rained, on the contrary, the moon was high in the sky and the air was clear, and at the bottom of the precipice you could see the trickle of light from the Saint Elmo's fire in the cemetery. On the other side you could make out the groves of blue banana trees in the moonlight, the sad swamps, and the phosphorescent line of the Caribbean on the horizon" (66).
The texture of this passage could be described as soft and delicate. The words convey a sense of gentleness with the use of peaceful and almost dreamlike imagery of the moonlight as well as the phrase, "trickle of light" to describe even the fire in a cemetary. The double consonances of "blue banana" and "sad swamps" create a smoother flow in the reading and adds a poetic quality to the passage. Such literary features, as well as the complete lack of any harsh or glaring images and diction create a smooth and delicate texture for this passage.
TEXTURE
DefinitionTEXTURE can be described as the verbal surface of a literary work, as opposed to its internal framework, which is denoted by STRUCTURE. TEXTURE involves those elements and details of incident, tone, style and imagery that are considered not to be part of the structure of a work.
Thus, TEXTURE, as a literary term, is analogous to the tangible texture (as in the tactile quality) of surfaces or fabric. It describes the literary work’s sensuous qualities, as expressed by the writer’s manipulation of words.
Examples
The Stranger"All I could feel were the cymbals of sunlight crashing on my forehead and indistinctly, the dazzling spear flying up from the knife in front of me. The scorching blade slashed at my eyelashes and stabbed at my stinging eyes. That's when everything began to reel. The sea carried up a thick, fiery breath. It seemed to me as if the sky split open from one end to the other to rain down fire" (59).
In The Stranger, right before the scene where Meursault pulls the trigger to shoot the Arab, there is a definite shift in the texture of the narration. While prior to this scene, the novel's general texture remained smooth and flat due to the calm and seemingly passive tone of Meursault's narration, the paragraphs leading up to the murder scene are marked by a sudden aggressiveness, which result in a rougher, more jagged texture. The sudden concentration of violent imagery created to personify the sun and the sea as "slashing" and "stabbing" Meursault's eyes, the comparison of the rays of sunlight to a "dazzling spear" and "scorching blade", and the abrasiveness of phrases such as "thick, fiery breath", all integrate to create a sharper and more jabbing texture, especially in comparison to the rather dull texture characterized by the earlier parts of the novel.
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
""Until then it hadn't rained, on the contrary, the moon was high in the sky and the air was clear, and at the bottom of the precipice you could see the trickle of light from the Saint Elmo's fire in the cemetery. On the other side you could make out the groves of blue banana trees in the moonlight, the sad swamps, and the phosphorescent line of the Caribbean on the horizon" (66).
The texture of this passage could be described as soft and delicate. The words convey a sense of gentleness with the use of peaceful and almost dreamlike imagery of the moonlight as well as the phrase, "trickle of light" to describe even the fire in a cemetary. The double consonances of "blue banana" and "sad swamps" create a smoother flow in the reading and adds a poetic quality to the passage. Such literary features, as well as the complete lack of any harsh or glaring images and diction create a smooth and delicate texture for this passage.